Gerald VandeWalle has been the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of North Dakota for more than two decades. He was appointed to the court in August 1978 and later elected to complete an unexpired term. Voters also retained him three times, in 1984, 1994 and 2004. He was elected Chief Justice in January 1993 by vote of the state’s district judges and supreme court justices.
Following law school, he became Special Assistant Attorney General, and then First Assistant Attorney General until he was appointed to the Supreme Court. From July 1985 to July 1987, he was the first chair of the North Dakota Judicial Conference.
Chief Justice Gerald VandeWalle has chaired numerous organizations and committees, including the Federal-State Tribal Relations Committee of the Conference of Chief Justices; the American Bar Association’s Council of the Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar; the National Center for State Courts; and the National Center for State Court’s Research Advisory Council. He is also a past president of the Conference of Chief Justices.
EDUCATION: University of North Dakota, B.S.; University of North Dakota School of Law, J.D.